Monday, 31 March, 2008:
Uganda will build its first instant coffee factory by the end of this year following an agreement between the governments of Uganda and Libya.
According to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), the terms of the agreement signed last September oblige the government of Uganda to provide land for the plant as well as technical support, with regulatory requirements.
Libya, through its Libyan Africa Investment Portfolio, will provide the capital.
UCDA officials said Libya had agreed to invest between $20 million and $60 million depending on the type of equipment chosen for the plant. They also confirmed that the UCDA had already secured land for the factory at Namanve industrial park in Kampala. [The East African]
Monday, 31 March, 2008:
UAE's President Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, met yesterday Libyan leader Qadhafi.
They discussed topics on the Arab Summit’s agenda, as well as bilateral relations and ways to boost them.
Shaikh Khalifa thanked Qadhafi for mentioning in his speech Iran’s continued occupation of UAE’s three islands and the need to refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for arbitration.
Shaikh Khalifa said the UAE has always called for resolving the issue either through direct negotiations or by referring it to the ICJ.
Shaikh Khalifa invited Qadhafi to visit the UAE. The Libyan leader accepted the invitation.
[Khaleej Times]
Monday, 31 March, 2008:
President Qadhafi, has issued an order amnestying the Algerian prisoners in Libya, but a problem surged after the release order, Algerian prisoners in Libya told El Khabar, adding that the Libyan prisoners have protested against their President’s decision amnestying the Algerian prisoners, excluding the Libyan ones. In this regard, a human rights source briefed on the Algerian prisoners record, has confirmed the Algerian prisoners declaration, related to a problem facing the Libyan judicial authorities, after the amnesty order by the Libyan President, obliging them postponing the order execution to a later date.
[El-Khabar]
Monday, 31 March, 2008:
Egypt and Libya have qualified to represent Africa at World Futsal Championships in Brazil in September, after advancing to the final of the 4th African Futsal Championships in Libya. [PanaPress]

Sunday, 30 March, 2008:
Amnesty International (AI)
activists will hold a vigil in front of the Ritz Carlton in Washington, DC,
on Monday, March 31, calling on Col. Qadhafi to
release Fathi el-Jahmi (photo). At the hotel, Qadhafi will be attending
via teleconference an event hosted by the Middle East Institute and
sponsored by Exxon Mobile. While Libyan authorities continue to argue that el-Jahmi - who is
seriously ill - has been released to his family's care, he is still in
detention and is not free to leave his hospital. Security guards
continue to control visitors' access to el-Jahmi. AI calls for his immediate release. Libyan authorities arrested el-Jahmi in 2002 after he called for free speech and political reforms during a conference in Tripoli. For that "crime," he was sentenced to five years in prison, but was released in
March 2004 following international pressure. Authorities detained el-Jahmi
weeks later, after he repeated his call for democracy during a TV interview. [PRNewswire]
Sunday, 30 March, 2008:
Libyan leader Qadhafi warned Arab allies of the U.S. that they could meet the same fate as former Iraq president Saddam Hussein, hanged in 2006 three years after the US-led invasion.
"A foreign force occupied an Arab country and hanged its president and we stood by and watched," he told an Arab summit in the Syrian capital.
Saddam was hanged in 2006 after being sentenced to death for crimes against humanity over the mass killing of Shiites in the 1980s.
"How can they execute a prisoner of war and the president of a member of the Arab League?" Qadhafi asked.
He said Saddam had been a friend of the U.S. during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s "before they turned against him and executed him."
"You could all suffer the same fate" .
"Even you, even we, who are considered friends of America, one day (America) can give the green light for our own hanging," said the Libyan leader whose country resumed ties with the U.S. in 2004 after a 23-year break. [AFP]
Sunday, 30 March, 2008:
Hosts Libya confirmed their position as Africa's second representatives at the FIFA Futsal World Cup by beating Mozambique 4-1 in the second semi-final game at the ongoing fourth CAF Futsal Championships in Tripoli.
The hosts were given their stiffest test of the tournament so far by the Mozambicans and were grateful for two goals in the last ten minutes to put the match beyond doubt.
Libya now meet Egypt in the final, who defeated Morocco by the same scoreline at the Africa Union Hall on Friday.
[FIFA]
Sunday, 30 March, 2008:
Libya has lashed out at the West over the low turnout at the Damascus summit, boycotted by half of the leaders who blame Syria for the crisis in Lebanon.
'There has been US pressure on Arab countries to reduce their participation,' Libya's Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham said ahead of the two-day summit.
'And the latest is that (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy is interfering in Arab affairs.'
'We as Arabs do not interfere in European summits. It has become a farce and this situation must be remedied by a joint Arab effort,' he added.
On Thursday, Mr Sarkozy said he supported the decision by Saudi Arabian and Egyptian leaders to boycott the summit and send only low-level delegations.
'I think they are right because Syria went too far,' he said.
'Lebanon is a free country, it's an independent country. Lebanon doesn't need another country to manage its affairs.'
Libyan leader Qadhafi, who considers himself a champion of Arab unity, arrived in Damascus yesterday.
Syria is currently hosting its first Arab summit amid a boycott by US allies who blame Syria for blocking the election of a president in Lebanon, which has been without a head of state since November.
[RTE]
Sunday, 30 March, 2008:
Libyan leader Qadhafi urged fellow Arab leaders yesterday to improve ties with Iran, saying it was not in their interest to antagonise the Islamic Republic.
“You have no escape from Iran. It is a neighbour and Muslim brother and it is not in your interest to be its enemy. We have no interest at all in turning Iran against us,” Gaddafi told the Arab summit in Damascus.
A strengthening alliance between host Syria and Iran has deepened divisions in the run-up to the summit, which is being attended by Iran’s foreign minister but shunned by pro-US Arab leaders, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Tensions have also heightened in the region over Iran’s nuclear row with the West and Tehran’s alleged interference in Iraq and its backing of Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah group in its standoff with the pro-Western Lebanese government.
Qadhafi said Iran and the Arab world had historic relations that could not be ignored.
President George W Bush tried to shore up Gulf Arab support against Iran during a visit to the region in January. But Gulf states, which share a strategic waterway crucial to world oil flows with Iran, expressed little public backing to Bush’s call. [Gulf-Times]

Saturday, 29 March, 2008:
The U.S. and Libya are close to resolving compensation claims related to 1980s terrorist attacks that are blocking full relations and deterring American investment in the oil-rich nation, U.S. officials and a victims' lawyer said.
The emerging deal would ensure that Libya wouldn't face any future U.S. claims over past terrorist attacks, a Bush administration official said in an interview. No dollar amounts have been discussed, and the U.S. may take weeks to make a judgment on the offer, according to the official, who asked not to be identified.
"I am optimistic that Libya will make a final payment to the Lockerbie families as part of an effort to globally resolve U.S. litigation soon," James Kreindler, the lead lawyer for the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, said in a telephone interview.
U.S. companies are trying to compete for contracts in Libya to develop the North African country's oil and gas industries and other infrastructure projects. Libya, which holds Africa's largest oil reserves, wants to boost output to 3 million barrels of crude a day by 2013 from the current 1.78 million barrels.
[Bloomerg]
Saturday, 29 March, 2008:
On March 13, 2008, CDR organized a meeting in Tripoli, libya, to present its olive oil testing systems: OxiTester and MiniFood.
The meeting was held in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, which hosted the presentation, and thanks to the precious collaboration of Tashsrukiat Garnat, newly appointed distributor of CDR products in Libya.
Local authorities, representatives from analysis laboratories and field operators attended the meeting. Mr. Gabriele Casini, Marketing Manager of FoodLab Division, and Mr. Claudio Vignoli, in charge of the OxiTester foreign sales network, represented CDR.
After the presentation, analytical tests were carried out using the OxiTester on locally produced oils. The practical trials highlighted the great potential of the testing instrument, which is easy to use, reliable and ensures improvement of olive oil quality, which aroused the interest of the audience.
[FreePress]
Saturday, 29 March, 2008:
U.S. House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) traveled to Libya this week and met with Col. Muammar Qadhafi, as part of an ongoing effort to “reintegrate [Libya] back into the world community,” according to a statement from Boehner’s office.
“Our visit with Col. Qadhafi has come at a critical time for both the U.S. and Libya, and we stressed the importance of being forward-looking as our nations seek to further strengthen our bilateral relationship,” said Boehner.
For decades the U.S. had no relations with the country after Qadhafi used oil revenue to support terrorism abroad, including the bombing of Pan AM Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. Qadhafi however, has renounced his support of terrorism and abandoned his nuclear weapons programs over the last decade, and has been working towards compensating the victims of terrorist attacks Libya helped sponsor.
“Col. Qadhafi and I also discussed how vital it is for his government to continue taking these steps – including settling claims to fully accept responsibility for past actions and offenses – in order for this progress to continue,” Boehner said.
Several other lawmakers joined Boehner on the trip to Israel, Tunisia and Morocco including Rep. John Carter (R-TX), Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL), and Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL).
[The Politico]
Saturday, 29 March, 2008:
There are occasions when individual brilliance can never entirely guarantee victory. Uganda's Cranes' lethargic 1-1 stalemate against Libya yesterday was one such occasion when a lacklustre team performance conspired to deny striker Caesar Okhuti a chance to emerge as the national soccer team's new match winner.
The Ediofe Hills forward is fast-emerging as an integral figure in coach Laszlo Csaba's 2010 World Cup qualifying plans.
His well-struck effort from 23-yards on 48 minutes was a just addition to his ever-increasing galaxy of wonder goals.
His fourth international goal was regrettably not enough to help the Cranes to glory in a build-up that had a few positives, though largely exposed several tribulations that will have to be resolved before the qualifier against Niger on May 31. [New Vision]
Saturday, 29 March, 2008:
Libya has hailed the military intervention of the Comoros to flush out secessionists and expressed confidence that it will help the country to consolidate its unity and put it on the road to stability, progress and prosperity.
In a communiqué issued on Tuesday in Tripoli, the Libyan general people's committee for external relations and international cooperation said the military inter v ention once again proved the AU's capacity to put an end to any attempt aimed getting a country out of legality and restoring security and stability without the intervention of a power outside the continent.
The Comoros Armed Forces backed by a contingent of the African Union (AU) on Tuesday carried out the military intervention on the island of Anjouan and defeated secessionist soldiers led by Mohamed Bocar, thus bringing back the island under the legal authority of the state of the Comoros.
Troops made up of 400 Comoros soldiers, backed by 1,350 Tanzanian and Sudanese soldiers under the banner of the AU recaptured Anjouan. [PanaPress]
Saturday, 29 March, 2008:
Impregilo, the major Italian construction and engineering group, among the first to target areas considered since long at risk, such as North Africa and the Gulf, "is going back to doing whatever it does best", its CEO Alberto Rubegni said. The company targets a very strong development in the Gulf, while announcing at the same time the acquisition of an order worth 520 million euro in Libya. "In the Gulf the investment forecast in the sector is huge: $100 billion in the next 10 years both in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, more than 80 million in the UAE, according to our estimates", Rubegni explained to ANSAmed. For this reason, Impregilo officially stated to be looking in the area for "a company with executive capacity" to acquire in the short term, in order to become its local partner on markets considered to be with very high potential. [AnsaMed]

Friday, 28 March, 2008:
The U.S. is considering a Libyan proposal to compensate families of Americans killed in three terrorist attacks blamed on Libyan agents in the 1980s, the U.S. State Department said Thursday.
The offer would settle pending lawsuits and comes as the Bush administration tries to revive a languishing effort to improve ties with Qadhafi's government. The administration, for example, wants Congress to exempt Libya from a law allowing terrorism victims to seize U.S.-based assets of state sponsors of such attacks.
Libya long has expressed interest in resolving outstanding compensation claims from the families, but only recently has proposed a deal covering the three attacks: the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco, the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the 1989 bombing of a French UTA airliner. The attacks killed hundreds, including 198 Americans.
Libya has paid two installments in the Lockerbie case but has not completed a third. It is unresolved amid the pending suits over the two other attacks. [AP]
Friday, 28 March, 2008:
Libya could agree a renegotiated oil contract with Spain's Repsol by next week in a drive to gain a greater share of the profits from operations with foreign partners, an official said on Thursday.
Seddiqui N. Ismail, Libya's representative to the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA), said the north African state was on track to reach a target of 2 million barrels a day by 2010 to meet rising demand from emerging markets such as India and China.
Libya currently produces around 1.7 million barrels a day, up from 1.35 million barrels a year ago, Ismail said.
Libya has been toughening terms for foreign oil partners for the past several months in a campaign seen by analysts as a pragmatic move to protect its interests at a time of high prices rather than to minimise outside involvement in the sector. [Reuters]
Friday, 28 March, 2008:
A delegation of US lawmakers told Libyan leader Qadhafi that US firms were keen to work in the North African country, particularly in gas, oil and infrastructure projects, Libyan news agency JANA said on Thursday.
Led by Republican Congressman John Boehner, the lawmakers met Qadhafi on Wednesday and stressed to him "the desire of American firms to contribute actively in realising development projects, notably in the areas of gas, oil and infrastructure," JANA said.
It added that the visitors also "saluted the efforts of the Guide of the Libyan revolution in consolidating peace and stability in the world," and affirmed their "commitment to develop friendly and cooperative relations" with Libya.
Diplomatic relations between Washington and Tripoli were broken in 1981 but restored in 2004 after Qadhafi announced that Libya had renounced efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
Relations were normalised last year with the exchange of ambassadors and with Libya being removed from the US list of states supporting terrorism. [AFP]

Thursday, 27 March, 2008:
David Welch is going to be speaking at a March 31 forum co-sponsored by a Libyan agency in which Col. Qadhafi will be participating via video. I asked Mohamed El-Jahmi (photo) for his thoughts, given both President Bush’s repeated commitments to see his incarcerated brother Fathi - Libya’s leading dissident - released and given proper medical care for his ailments, and also given the Bush’s own statements about human rights and dignity. Mohamed’s response:
The day Satan preaches from the pulpit is the day Amb. David Welch cares about human rights. The President says he supports freedom in the Middle East, and the Vice President reiterated the statement. Why should Libya be exempt? Is Qadhafi a freedom lover? His regime, after all, is scared of a dying 66-year old man because he called publicly for democracy.
Ambassador Welch should be embarrassed by his record. In June 2005, he visited Libya and met with Qadhafi, even though two weeks earlier Daif al-Ghazal, a prominent Libyan journalist who spoke out against corruption, was murdered and his body mutilated.
Then, in Feb, 2006, eleven people were shot to death at a Libyan-government sponsored rally against the Danish cartoons, but the Near East Bureau stood silent. The Near East Affairs Bureau also kept silent for nearly 17 months after Fathi Eljahmi was put in total incommunicado. [NRO]
Thursday, 27 March, 2008:
Libya has proposed a "comprehensive" new deal to the U.S. aimed at resolving a string of cases to compensate terrorism victims, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.
The official, who requested anonymity because the issue is so sensitive, told Reuters that senior Libyan officials presented the deal during talks in London on Tuesday and Wednesday with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch.
The U.S. restored diplomatic ties with Libya almost two years ago after Tripoli gave up its WMD program, but the terrorism compensation cases have soured ties between the former foes.
The official declined to provide details of the deal or say how much money could be offered to the families of terrorism victims.
[Reuters]
Thursday, 27 March, 2008:
Tuareg rebels led by Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, who are holding 33 Malian soldiers hostage, and Malian officials will meet in Libya for talks on Wednesday or Thursday, a source close to the mediators said.
"A Malian government delegation and a rebel team headed by Hama Ag Sid'Amey, father-in-law of Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, are expected either Wednesday or Thursday in Tripoli for talks aimed at relaunching the peace process," the source said.
A source close to the Malian government confirmed the meeting.
Mali's foreign minister has said forces allied to Ag Bahanga "attacked military convoys and planted landmines, with the help of neighbouring Tuareg forces" on March 19 and 20.
Rebels captured the 33 Malian troops during clashes in northern Mali on March 20. Eight people, including five civilians, have also been killed by mines.
[AFP]
Thursday, 27 March, 2008:
The secretary of the Libyan People’s General Congress (PGC ), Muftah Kaiba, on Wednesday briefed the head of the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives, John Andrew Boehner on the system of democracy practised in Libya.
During a meeting attended by several Libyan officials, he outlined the direct popular democracy applied in Libya through the people’s congresses, which make decisions, and the people’s committees, which implement the decisions.
The Libyan secretary for foreign affairs, Souleiman Chehoumi and committees of the PGC Tayeb Saffi reviewed the prospects of the Libyan-US relations and the progress made in the last few years.
For his part, Boehner said he was pleased about the tangible development in relations between the two countries and stressed his commitment to work for the strengthening of these relations in all areas.
He said on his arrival in Sirte that the objective of his visit to Libya was to "discover new areas as part of the continuous strengthening of the relations between the two countries". [Panapress]

Wednesday, 26 March, 2008:
The Bush administration is asking Congress to exempt Libya from a law allowing terrorism victims to seize the U.S. assets of state sponsors of the attacks.
The law was part of a defense policy bill that President Bush signed in January.
The bill's passage had been held up over Bush's objections to the provision letting victims of state-sponsored terrorism sue responsible foreign governments and collect judgments by seizing their assets in the U.S. Bush was concerned the provision would be applied to Iraq, so Democrats gave ground by giving the president permission to waive it for that country. He did so immediately upon signing the legislation.
Now, the administration has asked lawmakers to quickly grant Bush waiver authority for Libya.
Gordon Johndroe, Bush's national security spokesman, said the seizing of assets provision in the law could discourage nations like Libya that have renounced the export of terrorism from now helping the United States to fight terrorism. There is potential for billions of dollars in investment by U.S. companies in Libya's oil sector, as well as in other areas, meaning Libyan assets increasingly could wind up on American soil. [AP]
Wednesday, 26 March, 2008:
After he outraged Christians by dismissing the Bible as a forgery, Libyan leader Qadhafi earned himself some catechesis from his host, Yoweri Museveni.
Qadhafi's contention last week that the original Bible, which mentioned Mohammed, had been doctored to exclude reference to the founder of Islam was roundly condemned by Christians in Uganda.
A statement issued by State House on Sunday said Museveni had preached to Qadhafi about Christianity's core principles.
Speaking during Easter prayers at Nshwere Church in Nyabushozi, Museveni said that he told Col. Qadhafi that the resurrection of Jesus is important to humanity.
He further told the congregation that he informed Qadhafi that the fundamental laws of Christianity are enshrined in two major teachings, found in the Gospel of St. Mark Chapter 12 verse 30 to 31, which says that "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength". The second law says "Love your neighbour as yourself".
According to the president, Qadhafi seemed convinced that if one fulfilled the two laws, then one would have fulfilled most of the laws of God. He said that it does not matter which religion one belongs to as long as one fulfils these laws. "I do not believe in competition between religions, after all God has no religion. God is for us all", the president stressed. [Catholic Information Service]
Wednesday, 26 March, 2008:
Uganda's international friendlies are not normally renown for full-strength Cranes sides. But today's match against Libya at Namboole will be an historic friendly because it is the match that has attracted Austrian-based star Ibrahim Sekagya and a strong South Africa-based contingent led by Footballer of the Year David Obua.
The match sits in Fifa's calendar with a host of build-up games and World Cup qualifiers taking place all over the globe.
Defender Timothy Batabaire and striker Geoffrey Massa will miss the match through injury but coach Laszlo Csaba's main worry is the late arrival of most of the players.
Libya handed Csaba his first defeat as Cranes coach in 2006 in a match notable for its controversy and the German-Hungarian is relishing revenge.
"They did not deserve to beat us. We lost under unclear circumstances but the issue now is to beat them in our own back yard," a confident Csaba said. Neither Sekagya nor Obua was in Tripoli when Libya edged Cranes 3-2 and Cranes can expect a confidence-rewarding display ahead of the 2010 African/World Cup qualifiers. In 2004, Cranes played out to a goalless draw with the North Africans in Kampala.
[The Monitor]
Wednesday, 26 March, 2008:
Three Young Africans players have won the admiration of Libyan soccer teams, a club's official who accompanied the team to Tripoli for the Confederations Cup against hosts Al Akhdar last Friday, has said.
The Yanga official who pleaded for anonymity, named the players who have been put under spotlight by Libyan teams as Mrisho Ngassa, Athuman Idd and Hamis Yusuph.
Two Libyan teams including Yanga opponents, Al Akhdar, had expressed interest to sign the trio although Yanga officials were not in a position to respond to their demand.
Yanga's competition committee member Emmanuel Mpangala confirmed Libyan team's move, but declined to give more details as Yanga are still competing with the Libyan side.
Mpangala said Yanga may refuse to allow their players to hold talks with Al Akhdar or any other Libyan side after the end of their return leg match in a fortnight. [The Citizen]
Wednesday, 26 March, 2008:
In recent years Belarus and Libya have made substantial progress in the area of political, trade, economic and cultural cooperation, Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Valery Voronetsky said at the reception on the occasion of completion of the diplomatic mission of Ambassador of Libya to Belarus Abdulla Almagrabi. The event took place in the Minsk House of Friendship on March 24.
Voronetsky noted that Almagrabi made a great contribution to the strengthening of bilateral cooperation between Belarus and Libya. He also underlined the importance of the charity work conducted by the ambassador’s spouse, Zeinab Elgodzh, who heads the International Club of ambassadors’ spouses. The club organized a number of charity activities aimed at supporting orphans, the disabled, the sick and those affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Almagrabi said in his turn that during the seven years of his diplomatic work in Belarus the country achieved considerable progress in the economic area. According to him, Belarus is enjoying a period of sustainable development and is moving forward, and the capital of the country is becoming more beautiful and comfortable. [NCLIRB]

Tuesday, 25 March, 2008:
The Government has erected a giant monument at Buganga, Nkozi to honour Libya’s support to the liberation war. However, the unveiling ceremony that was to be performed on Thursday by Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gadaffi was deferred under unclear circumstances.
The Government and UPDF officials, who had gone for the ceremony, 4 klms from Kayabwe on Masaka road, were left in suspense.
The monument bearing the portraits of Qadhafi and President Museveni was put up by the National Housing and Construction Corporation, one of the companies in which Libya has majority shares.
The corporation chairman, Keith Muhakanizi, said they were only contracted to erect the monument, but that it belonged to the Libyans. The monument, now dressed in canvass with lights hanging over it, is guarded by UPDF soldiers.
Earlier, reports said the monument was in memory of Libyan soldiers killed in the 1979 war while fighting alongside the late Idi Amin’s soldiers as they battled the Tanzanian liberators.
But Army spokesperson Major Paddy Ankunda clarified that it was in commemoration of the continued solidarity between Libya and Uganda. [The Vision]
Tuesday, 25 March, 2008:
Tripoli, Libya - Libyan football club Al-Akhdhar Friday drew 1-1 at home with the Young Africans of Tanzania in the first leg of 16th finals of the CAF cup.
The two teams meet in the second leg to be played in Tanzania in two weeks.
The winner of the two-leg encounter will go on to play the winner of the tie between Mouludia of Algeria and Gardes Frontières of Egypt. [Panapress]
Tuesday, 25 March, 2008:
Seven Turkish citizens who were arrested in Libya were released March 13 and returned to Turkey on March 20, Foreign Ministry said. The Turks, who were working for a Turkish construction firm operating in Tripoli, were arrested after the Turkish firm came into conflict with the Libyan employer. [ANK]
Monday, 24 March, 2008:
An organisation led by a son of Libyan leader Qadhafi denied on Sunday that it was negotiating the release of two Austrians believed held by al Qaeda in north Africa.
The Qadhafi Foundation charity was responding to a report by Carinthia governor Joerg Haider on Saturday that its chairman Saif al-Islam was in touch with the kidnappers in Mali to try to obtain the release of the hostages.
"Qadhafi Foundation affirms that it has not undertaken any measures or efforts or contacts, whether direct or indirect, with the kidnappers despite the Foundation, and its chairman, having received several demands to do so."
However on Sunday the Austrian news agency APA quoted Haider as saying in response to the foundation's denial: "It is not an initiative of the foundation but his (Saif al-Islam's) own ... it is a secret action."
The reported role of Qadhafi's son, who has studied in Austria and is a friend of right-wing populist Haider, raised some hopes for the release of the two Austrian tourists who were seized in Tunisia last month and are reported to be held in northern Mali. [Reuters]
Monday, 24 March, 2008:
A heavy sand storm mixed up the fourth stage of the 1st Libya Rally Raid. At 8 am started the crews 50 km away from Camp Africa on a great track and dune selective to Al Alauwinat. But at about 10 am a heavy sand storm started and finally the stage was suspended. The visibility decreased to only 2 metre, dunes, tracks and roads were no more to recognise.
After the last informtaion the CP2 could not be set up because the organisers’ car couldn’t reach it. The cew Wulf/Bork (Nissan Navara) came out from the stage as first, the remaining four teams drove further and are still in the dunes at 16:00 CET. As the visibility is practically zero, it seems like the teams won’t reach the finish until late in the evening. [MarathonRally]
Monday, 24 March, 2008:
African Champions League 2nd round, first leg results on Sunday: In Aba: Enyimba (Nigeria) 4 Simba SC (Tanzania) 0 In Abidjan: ASEC Abidjan (Ivory Coast) 1 AS Kaloum (Guinea) 1 In Cairo: Zamalek (Egypt) 2 Africa Sports (Ivory Coast) 0 In Garoua: Coton Sport (Cameroon) 5 Gombe United (Nigeria) 0 In Gwanzura: Dynamos (Zimbabwe) 3 Costa do Sol (Mozambique) 0 In Lome: ASKO Kara (Togo) 2 Club Africain (Tunisia) 0 In Lubumbashi: TP Mazembe Englebert (DR Congo) 1 FC105 Libreville (Gabon) 1 In Omdurman: Al Hilal (Sudan) 2 ZESCO (Zambia) 0 In Tripoli: Al Ittihad (Libya) 1 Primeiro Agosto (Angola) 0. [Reuters]
Monday, 24 March, 2008:
There is something both poignant and galling about the candidacy of Barack Obama.
Any American, regardless of party or race, has to find it heartening that the country has reached the point where a black candidate for president of the United States sweeps so many primaries in states where the overwhelming majority of the population is white.
We have all seen the crowds enthralled by Obama's rhetoric and theatrical style.
Many of his supporters put their money where their mouths were ...
That's the good news. The bad news is that Obama has been leading as much of a double life as Eliot Spitzer.
While talking about bringing us together and deploring "divisive" actions, Senator Obama has for 20 years been a member of a church whose minister, Jeremiah Wright, has said that "God Bless America" should be replaced by "God damn America" -- among many other wild and even obscene denunciations of American society, including blanket racist attacks on whites.
Wright's actions matched his words. He went with Louis Farrakhan to Libya and Farrakhan received an award from his church. [DetNews]

Sunday, 23 March, 2008:
Libyan jets, rocket propelled grenades and soldiers were used to try and sustain the unpopular and ultimately fascist regime of Gen. Idi Amin in the liberation war against the dictator in 1979.
At that time, Yoweri Museveni, a sworn opponent of Amin was fighting against his Libyan-backed forces together with other Ugandan exiles and Tanzanian troops.
Today he is entertaining Col. Qadhafi to a red carpet welcome and a blank cheque to say whatsoever he wants even if much of Libyan leader's pronouncements are an insult to the Ugandan people.
After the dark era of dictator Amin, who declared a predominantly Christian country a Muslim state and himself a life president, Qadhafi is now encouraging Museveni to hang on to the presidency for life. The Colonel and the Libyan people he leads need an education of what has happened since he put millions of petro-dollars in service of Amin.
Libya may have a lot of oil money, enough to gobble up Ugandan companies. However, those in charge of visits by Qadhafi should have the foresight to let him know that his money cannot buy respect. Ugandan hospitality to a leader of his calibre is based on mutual interests which include respect for culture, religion and the diversity of our societies.
[The Monitor]
Sunday, 23 March, 2008:
Talks to secure the release of two Austrians abducted last month in Tunisia have intensified and a decision on their fate could be imminent, the son of Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi was quoted as saying Saturday.
"The negotiations have reached a decisive phase," Austrian far-right politician Joerg Haider told the Austria Press Agency, after a telephone conversation with Qadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam.
"Seif estimates that a decision on the Austrians' fate could fall in the next few hours," Haider added.
Haider had said after a previous phone conversation that Qadhafi's son was "in intensive contact with the kidnappers and is very optimistic."
"Seif is negotiating with the kidnappers and is in his own words confident the whole thing will soon be concluded," he said.
Wolfgang Ebner, 51, and Andrea Kloiber, 44, were abducted on February 22 as they were vacationing in the Tunisian desert and are now believed to be in northern Mali. [AFP]
Sunday, 23 March, 2008:
Libyan leader Col. Qadhafi should stop deceiving the world and seek the truth, the Kampala Catholic Archbishop has said.
“For Qadhfi to say the Bible was doctored is an insult to Christians. He needs to repent before God,” Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga said.
He was on Friday addressing thousands of Christians at the conclusion of Good Friday’s Way of the Cross, at Nakivubo Stadium, where on Wednesday, Gadaffi asserted that the Bible in use today was not the one revealed to Jesus and the Old Testament was not the one which Moses received from Allah.
Qadhfi said references to Mohammed had been deleted and any book that failed to mention Muhammad was fake.
Lwanga said: “If Christians called the Koran fake, Muslims would fight and shed blood.”
He urged Christians to forgive Qadhfi “as Jesus forgave those who crucified him on the cross, for he doesn’t know what he is doing”.
Lwanga pointed out that Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, was written between 1,410 and 1,450 years before the birth of Christ (BC), while the New Testament was written from 55-65 years after Christ’s death (AD). The Koran says the Prophet Muhammad lived between 610 and 632 AD.
"He (Mohammed) came 600 years later. How can you blame Christians for not including Mohammed in their Bible when he didn’t exist at the time the Bible was written?” [The Vision]
Sunday, 23 March, 2008:
Slovenian President Danilo Turk, whose country chairs the rotating chairmanship of the European Union (EU), on Friday hailed the "distinguished role" of Libya on the int'l scene, expressing his country's readiness to promote bilateral relations with Tripoli.
A Libyan official source said Turk expressed his willingness to enhance ties between the two sides when the Libyan ambassador to Italy and Slovenia presented his credentials to President Turk.
The source quoted President Turk as saying his country's EU chairmanship would see the extension of the fields of co-operation between Libya and European countries. [Panapress]
Sunday, 23 March, 2008:
Scientific cooperation has long had a critical, if unsung, supporting role in int'l diplomacy, helping to rebuild economies from the ashes of World War II and eventually winding down the Cold War. But despite these successes, critics say Washington's record of integrating science and technology into foreign policy in recent years has been decidedly mixed ...
One of the themes raised at the recent annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where scientists lamented that Washington continues to short-shrift int'l scientific cooperation, which is increasingly regarded as a crucial tool of soft power for spreading prosperity and enhancing American competitiveness.
In January the U.S. signed a science and technology agreement with Libya - the first bilateral accord since the U.S. re-established diplomatic relations in 2004.
The center of the Libyan Desert (a.k.a. the Great Sand Sea) was apparently the very best place on Earth to study the total solar eclipse in 2006. The visit by NASA scientists was recorded and the film is now going to be shown to the public across North Africa according to Robert Senseney, a senior State Department science advisor, who says there are a series of other private and governmental exchanges in the works. [Time]

Friday, 21 March, 2008:
A fight between Ugandan and Libyan presidential guards sparked chaos during a ceremony attended by the heads of state from 11 African nations on Wednesday.
Several of the guards to the visiting heads of state from Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Mali, Somalia, Sudan and Djibouti sustained serious injuries in the fight, which included punches, kicks and the drawing of guns.
No leaders were hurt, though several were knocked over. Several journalists also were caught up in the fracas and suffered injuries or lost their grips on cameras and recorders.
The incident occurred at the opening of a massive Qadhafi National Mosque in Kampala, a structure begun by the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 1972 and completed with financing from Libya.
The Ugandan guards -- who had traded hostilities with the predominantly-Arab Libyan guards at every joint event since Qadhafi's arrival in the country Sunday -- reacted with fury and fought back.
[CNN]
Friday, 21 March, 2008:
In the small ski town of Anzere, in the Swiss Alps, an unlikely group of Israeli youths are meeting for the first time.
But the group — 13-year-old Rola Abbas, a Druze from northern Israel; Arab Israelis Ala Amar, 17, and Ahed Grefat, 12; Ethiopians Sarah Teshale, 18, and Shay Vorkana, 12, and 18-year-old Maya Korman — have one connecting thread: they are all survivors of organ transplants.
For the past five years, Anzere has been hosting Transplant Adventure Camp for Kids: Education, Recreation and Sport, or “Tackers” for short. The Israelis joined more than 40 youngsters from 17 different countries as diverse as New Zealand, Libya, Morocco, Canada, Switzerland and the UK.
The founder of Tackers is British-born Liz Schick, herself a survivor — this coming May she will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of her successful liver transplant. [TheJC]
Friday, 21 March, 2008:
Libyan leader Col. Qadhafi has pledged to support investment in the Buganda Kingdom.
Meeting the Katikkiro, J.B. Walusimbi and Nabagereka Sylvia Nagginda at Mengo on Tuesday, Qadhafi instructed the Libyan investment team to sign a memorandum of understanding with the kingdom.
Qadhafi said Buganda was an embodiment of a pure social African setting and pledged to support its reconstruction programme.
He advised the kingdom to resist foreign influence, adding that it is through social settings like Buganda that the African Union would be achieved.
He invited Buganda officials to Libya to consolidate the partnership. The Katikkiro welcomed Qadhafi and instructed the Buganda attorney general to draft the memorandum.
Walusimbi said Buganda was endowed with resources like minerals, prime land and hardworking subjects in which Libya can invest.
[The New Vision]
Friday, 21 March, 2008:
Elections destabilize the governments and do not have anything African. With these statements Libyan leader Qadhafi wrongfooted the Ugandan opposition claiming that the leader of the African country Yoweri Museveni and his Zimbabwe counterpart must remain in power "forever". "The elections destabilize the programmes of the revolutionary leaders," said Qadhafi who is in Kampala for the closure of the Afro-Arab festival and for the opening of one of the biggest African mosques, according to a report by the Apanews agency. The elections "upset the action of the leaders and have nothing African", Qadhafi, who has been leading Libya since 1969, said. He also appealed to the Arabs not living in Africa "to reunite with the African Union", affirming that two-thirds of the world Arab community already live on the continent. [AnsaMed]
Friday, 21 March, 2008:
In his drive to spread Libyan and Islamic influence in Africa, Qadhafi inaugurated a huge new mosque in this predominantly Christian country Wednesday, with several African heads of state attending and scores of Arab journalists flown in for the occasion.
Packed in Kampala's soccer stadium, a crowd estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 chanted "long live brother Qadhafi" before the Libyan leader delivered an hour-long lecture on the meaning of Islam.
Qadhafi, who celebrates the Mulid al-Nabi, or Prophet's birthday, a day earlier than most other Muslims, was in Kampala to inaugurate the huge new Qadhafi National Mosque, which he funded and is touted by Libyan officials as Africa's second-largest.
"Muhammad is everybody's prophet. He was sent to all mankind, unlike the other prophets," Qadhafi told the rally, which included Boy Scouts and school brass bands, all wearing Qadhafi T-shirts. They were jammed onto the lawn of Kampala's football stadium. [AP]

Thursday, 20 March, 2008:
The Libyan government has canceled plans to sell a majority stake in European refining company Tamoil to Colony Capital LLC, and is unlikely to offer the U.S. private-equity group compensation for scrapping the deal, the head of Libya's sovereign-wealth fund said.
"No agreement was reached. We couldn't make a deal happen," Mohammed Layas, chairman of the Libyan Investment Authority, said Wednesday. He declined to say why Libya reversed course on the deal, but said the North African oil-producing country had no plans to offer Colony compensation. "I don't see that happening," he said.
The Libyan government in June agreed to sell a 65% stake in Tamoil to Colony Capital. The Los Angeles private-equity group would have paid about $3.5 billion for the stake.
The government said this month that it transferred full control of Tamoil to the fund. Observers said the move signaled the deal with Colony could fall apart. [WSJ]
Thursday, 20 March, 2008:
Col Qadhafi yesterday celebrated the anniversary of the birth of Prophet Muhammad with a two-hour speech in which he attacked the Scandinavian countries for besmirching the Prophet, the Arabs for monopolising the Kaaba and signed off by describing the Bible as a forgery.
Speaking to the mammoth crowd that braved the afternoon heat in Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium [Kampala, Uganda] after leading the Thuhur (afternoon) prayer, Col. Qadhafi said any Bible and Tora (Old Testament) that does not mention Prophet Muhammad was written by mankind and therefore a fraud.
"The Bible we have now is not the one that was revealed to Issa [Jesus] and the Old Testament is not the one that was revealed to Musa. Muhammad is mentioned in both (original versions), but the Tora and Bible we have now, there is no mention of him," the Libyan leader, more known for his controversial statements than his piety, said. [The Monitor]
Thursday, 20 March, 2008:
A huge mosque begun more than 30 years ago by the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin has opened in the Ugandan capital.
The mosque is named after Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi who helped finance its construction when funds ran low.
As Libya's leader opened the mosque, which holds some 15,000 worshippers and dominates Kampala's skyline, a large crowd chanted "long live Qadhafi".
Amin, who lived in Saudi Arabia after he fled Uganda in 1979, dreamed of building Africa's largest mosque.
A number of other African heads of state attended the ceremony, including the presidents of Somalia, Zanzibar and Djibouti. [BBC]
Thursday, 20 March, 2008:
The leader of Uganda’s main opposition Forum for Democratic Change says Western countries are partly to blame for the failure of a democratic transition in Africa. Kizza Besigye did not name a specific country. But he was reacting to comments by Libyan leader Col. Qadhafi during a visit to Uganda Monday when Qadhafi criticized Western-style democracy for its emphasis on presidential term limits. Qadhafi called on Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to be president for life.
Besigye told VOA that Ugandans decided that President Museveni should leave office when they established constitutional term limits in 1995.
“It’s not surprising at all coming from Colonel Qadhafi who himself assumed power through a military coup. But secondly, I think Col. Qadhafi made a qualified statement. He said somebody should stay as long as the people wish. He also recognizes that the will of the people to determine who leads them is vital. [VOA]
Thursday, 20 March, 2008:
Zone Six volleyball finalists Churchill Bulldogs and Kutama Old Boys will take part in the 27th edition of the African Cup Championship to be staged in Misurata, Libya in April.
Zimbabwe and Botswana are the only southern Africans to send their teams to the continental showpiece, after clashing in the finals of the zonal club tournament.
Botswana's Defence Forces side emerged the regional champions after beating the Wistonian Bulldogs.
The African Cup will present the teams with a tough assignment against teams from West and East Africa, where volleyball is played at a more competitive level. [The Zimbabwean]

Wednesday, 19 March, 2008:
Politicians have rubbished Libyan leader Qadhafi’s advice that African leaders should resist western democracy and only retire when the voters will.
Qadhafi, while closing the Afro-Arab youth conference on Monday, said term limits were alien to Africa and inhibited people from expressing their will.
He hailed leaders like President Yoweri Museveni and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe as African heroes, who should continue ruling.
However, politicians said democracy, like human rights, were doctrines that could not be defined according to race or tribes.
“Democracy is neither African, European nor Asian. Like Human rights, it is universal,” said UPC secretary general Peter Walubiri
He said Qadhfi’s remarks were a mockery to the values of the Commonwealth, which President Museveni is chairing.
The call for leaders to rely on the will of the people, Walubiri noted, was an “empty statement” since armies are central in African politics. [The New Vision]
Wednesday, 19 March, 2008:
Libya has established contact with the kidnappers of two Austrian tourists seized in Tunisia by a North African offshoot of Al-Qaeda, a diplomat in the Malian capital said Tuesday.
"I have just learnt that Libya was able, via intermediaries, to establish a contact with the abductors of the two hostages," the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Negotiations are continuing" he said, adding: "The hostages appear well." The meeting reportedly took place overnight Monday.
Wolfgang Ebner, 51, and Andrea Kloiber, 44, were abducted February 22 while on holiday in the Tunisian desert.
The Austrian government on Monday confirmed it had sought help from North African leaders, with the official state Libyan news agency saying Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer called Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi. [AFP]
Wednesday, 19 March, 2008:
A concerned Nigerian citizen, Ikechukwu Nwabufor, has alleged that Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS are being killed by some medical doctors in Libya, according to a report in the private Punch newspaper Tuesday.
The paper quoted Nwabufor, General Manager of Sea Squard Records Ltd, as making the allegation during a media briefing on the HIV/AIDS awareness concert organised by the company and the African Refugees Foundation (ARF) in the commercial city of Lagos Monday.
``Quote me, anytime, any day, it is a true life story. Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS in Libya are being killed. I do not know why they are being killed,'' he said.
Nwabufor called on the Nigerian government and the Nigerian Embassy in Libya to take urgent steps to stop the alleged killing, adding: ''Government should get in touch with our Embassy there to take proper care of Nigerian citizens.
''Based on my experience over there, (and) the way people are being killed, I believe that there should be more enlightenment campaign about AIDS,'' he said. [Panapress]
Wednesday, 19 March, 2008:
In the last ten years or so, our country has been run like a college students' union government ...
By behaving this cheaply, Qadhafi's Libya has cached in, weighed in and buffeted our moral fibre. We have apparently swallowed all our pride and dignity and looked up to a dictator for succour. A man who, according our Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, had a hand in our war that cost tens of thousands of lives! He must apologise and pay reparations.
Even before we could mull over what to dictate to a dictator, Freetown had established diplomatic relations, at ambassadorial level, with Tripoli.
Was it not the same Libya under the same Qadhafi that bundled and deported, so ashamedly, Sierra Leoneans who had been living there for years? Where is our conscience?
This explains why during Qadhafi's visit last year, there was so much hue and cry from the then opposition shouting out their uvula, condemning him.
Now that opposition is in power, the new president has visited Libya twice, and his government is showing off with the Qadhafi's goodies. [Concord Times]

Tuesday, 18 March, 2008:
Visiting Libyan leader Col. Qadhafi has told President Yoweri Museveni never to consider retiring from the presidency.
Qadhafi said the term limits entrenched in constitutions and political parties were alien to Africa and inhibited people from expressing their will.
Qadhafi, who has been in power for four decades, rallied African leaders to stand firm against former colonial powers forcing Western democracy down their throats.
He mentioned Belgium, Britain, Portugal, Italy and France among countries, which robbed Africa’s natural resources, treated Africans in a dehumanising way and left them under-developed.
“We need zeal and vision. Africa is still backward. This is a real war (to develop it). What we are asking from leaders like Museveni is to continue with the war or die in the war,” Qadhafi stated to applause. [The Vision]
Tuesday, 18 March, 2008:
Libya has opened its doors for Sri Lankan migrant workers with a major share of the country’s foreign job market being offered to skilled Lankan labour, according to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries on Sunday.
According to the MoU, Lankans would be offered lucrative opportunities mainly in the construction, port, oil and tourism sectors.
According to sources, emphasis has been laid in promoting skilled manpower in accordance with Sri Lanka’s recent policy change of giving prominence to such workers with better perks to discourage the common practice of sending untrained labour. [Daily News]
Tuesday, 18 March, 2008:
South Africa will play Angola in the opening match of the African preliminaries for the World Futsal Championship that begin in Tripoli, Libya, on March 21.
Ten participating African countries were divided in two groups of five teams at the weekend.
In group A are Libya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Cameroon.
In group B are Egypt, Zambia, South Africa, Angola and Mozambique.
The matches will be played in two venues: Cortuba and African Union.
The South Africa v Angola match is one of four games to be decided on March 21. The others are Tunisia v Morocco, Egypt v Zambia and host country Libya against Nigeria. [Kich Off]
Tuesday, 18 March, 2008:
Giovanna Ortu wrote on behalf of the Association of Italians Expelled from Libya an open letter requesting from the new prime minister explanation on the framework agreement that is being discussed with Libya and on the issue related to the compensations for the property of Italian citizens confiscated by Qadhafi. The letter was addressed to the candidates for prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, Walter Veltroni, Pier Ferdinando Casini, Fausto Bertinotti and Daniela Santanché. Ortu asked the candidates "how they plan to put forward the framework agreement with Libya, which failed to address the issue related to the compensations for Italian property seized by Gaddafi in 1970". According to Ortu, "if the significant measures to end the conflict carried on by the last two governments in favour of the Libyan government was to be included in a treaty, it would be appropriate for the first reparative gesture to be directed to the victims of the Libyan revolution of 1969, or all Italian citizens whose properties were seized". The value of the properties was estimated in 2007 to three billion euro equal to the cost of the notorious motorway promised to Qadhafi, who received in this way a substantial amount of the money he still claims in order to forget "the Italian colonial misdeeds". [AnsaMed]

Monday, 17 March, 2008:
Libyan leader Qadhafi, arrived in Uganda yesterday for a four-day official visit during which he will address the Afro-Arab Youth Conference and open the national mosque he constructed in Kampala.
Qadhafi’s plane landed at Entebbe airport at 2:30pm, two-and-a-half hours earlier than expected.
Qadhafi, in his trademark sunglasses and colourful African attire, arrived with 4 planes and more than 30 officials. Defence minister C. Kiyonga received him at the airport. He was later driven to State House Entebbe in a green limousine, bearing the Libyan emblem. His convoy stretched about one-and-a- half kilometers long. [The New Vision]
Monday, 17 March, 2008:
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini on Sunday criticized Libya for voting in favor of UN sanctions against Iran. The UN Security Council on March 3 issued a third sanctions resolution against Iran over its nuclear activities. “In view of the stances of Libyan ambassador to the UN, this country’s vote for sanctions was unexpected for us,” Hosseini told reporters.
[Tehran Times]

Sunday, 16 March, 2008:
The Austrian chancellor, Alfred Gusenhauer, Friday held talks with the Libyan leader M'uammar al-Qadhafi, who is the current chairman of the Sahel-Saharan States Community (CEN-SAD). Their talks, held on telephone, covered several issues of common interest to Austria and Libya, according to a Libyan official source. The two leaders, the source revealed, discussed the abduction, in Tunisia, of two Austrian tourists, an act which Al-Qaida had claimed responsibility for. [Panapress]
Sunday, 16 March, 2008:
Indonesia and Libya have agreed to step up cooperation in the field of youth affairs and to revive cooperation among former members of the Asia-Africa Conference, a minister said.
Speaking to the press following a meeting with Libyan Ambassador to Indonesia M El Bishari here on Thursday, Indonesian State Minister for Youth and Sports Adhyaksa Dault said the agreement was a follow-up to his Libyan visit two weeks ago.
"At the meeting, we discussed the two countries` wish to rekindle the spirit of the Asia-Africa Conference to enhance cooperation in the field of youth affairs. The cooperation will involve not only the two countries but all members of the Asia-Africa Conference as well," he said. [Antara]
Sunday, 16 March, 2008:
After nearly two decades serving as a mentor and moral guide to presidential hopeful Barack Obama, Reverend Jeremiah Wright may become his biggest liability as he closes in on the Democratic nomination.
Obama on Friday was forced to publicly denounce Wright's controversial remarks in video clips of his sermons of months and years past, after they threatened to turn into a major campaign issue.
The dashikis-wearing pastor has been a lightning rod of controversy for decades. He even traveled to
Libya with Nation of Islam leader Farrakhan to meet Qadhafi in the 1980s.
He has used his pulpit to denounce "white arrogance" and preach social justice and black liberation theology, which some brand as separatism and even reverse racism.
He has also been criticized for equating Zionism with racism and for recently giving Farrakhan, who has sparked condemnation for his anti-Semitic remarks, an award for his work rehabilitating former convicts.
[AFP]
Sunday, 16 March, 2008:
The fishing boat 'Manciaracina', arrested by the Libyan authorities on February 1 some 45 miles off the Libyan coast on charges of entering the territorial waters of the North African country, returned yesterday in the port of Mazara del Vallo. After some 40 days of diplomatic negotiations, the Libyan ambassador in Rome told Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi last Sunday that the Libyan government plans to release the boat. 'Manciaracina' should have set sail on Sunday, but the departure was delayed with 24 hours due to a bureaucratic obstacle. Apart from the captain, the crew of the boat included eight men, three Italians, four Tunisians and one Senegalese. [Ansamed]

Saturday, 15 March, 2008:
Bank of America Corp. has agreed to pay more than $1,300 to settle allegations that a bank it acquired violated federal rules against doing business with Libya.
A Uruguay-based branch of Fleet National Bank allegedly violated the regulations in April 2003, according to a notice posted Friday by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America acquired Fleet in 2005. The company did not disclose the matter to the government.
It involved a single wire transfer that never actually reached Libya, according to Bank of America.
'It was an inadvertent violation, not intentional,' Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton wrote in an e-mail Friday. 'It had nothing to do with either terrorism or drug trafficking.'
The U.S. has lifted many economic sanctions against Libya since 2003, when the nation's leader Moammar Gadhafi agreed to abandon the development of weapons of mass destruction. [AP]
Saturday, 15 March, 2008:
A controversy over Algerian detainees in Libyan prisons has been raised following the denial being issued by Libyan Authorities concerning an amnesty likely been ordered by Libyan Leader Qadhafi on the favour of the 52 Algerian detainees, while detainees’ representative denied being notified of such information.
The Libyan Foreign Ministry has denied last Wednesday information being reported by sources within the Algerian Human Right Commission (AHRC) saying Qadhafi has amnestied Algerian detainees.
The same source said: “the news is unfounded.”
However, an Algerian prisoner in Tripoli told El Khabar in a phone call that the direction of the prison has not notified prisoners of any decision to release them, indicating: “if the prison intended releasing us, we would have known that.”
Furthermore, detainees’ family told El Khabar, following a meeting with the president of the AHRC Thursday, the latter was astonished toward the denial of Libyans, while calling detainees’ family members not believing the denial reported by Al Jazeera Channel. [El-Khabar]
Saturday, 15 March, 2008:
The fourth international Euro-Mediterranean conference on computer science and telemedicine opened in Tripoli on Thursday. The three-day meeting is being attended by doctors and specialists from Libya, Russia, Italy, Czech Republic, Romania, Greece, France, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. It is organised by the World Telemedicine Association, in collaboration with the Libyan ministry for Health, the Libyan Council of medical specialities and the World Health Organisation (WHO). More than 30 studies on telemedicine teaching, the use of Internet in the medical area as well as the promotion of health systems for electronic medical teaching and the harmonisation of the programmes on telemedicine will be discussed during this meeting. The studies also cover electronic filing of the patients’ conditions, electronic care cards, clinical and epidemiological databases, the use of fingerprints in health records and the digital gap in telemedicine in Africa. [Panapress]
Saturday, 15 March, 2008:
Tanzania's flag bearers in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederation Cup, Young Africans, are expected to leave on march 18 for Tripoli, Libya where they will face Al Akhdar in a fist leg, second round match.
Yanga secretary-general Lucas Kisasa said the travelling party would comprise at least 27 players and officials. The match will be played on march 21.
Kisasa said only 20 players are lined up for the trip and the rest will be club officials and Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) representatives.
He added that fitness would be the overriding criterion in the selection of players who will make the trip.
Kisasa said Yanga were not under estimating their opponents, adding that the libyan side had proven that they were a good team after making it to the second round of the competition. [The Citizen]
Saturday, 15 March, 2008:
The leader of the world's most populous Muslim nation called Friday for a jihad of peace to spark an "Islamic Renaissance", at a summit where leaders struggled to agree reforms to the main international Islamic group.
Indonesia's President Yudhoyono called for greater democracy and efforts to improve the plight of Muslims and spread Islamic values, in a speech to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit.
"The possibility of an Islamic Renaissance lies before us," Yudhoyono told the summit.
"When the Islamic Renaissance comes it will be the natural fruit of a peaceful and constructive 'jihad'."
OIC leaders are negotiating a new charter to modernise the group.
But there has been intense debate about issues ranging from eligibility for new membership to how to define "self-determination" for the Palestinian people ..., diplomats said
...
If the talks fail, the decision could be put back to an OIC foreign ministers meeting in Uganda in June or even the next OIC summit in Cairo in three years.
The absence of several prominent leaders -- including Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, Libya's Qadhafi and Pakistan's Musharraf -- has made a delay more likely. [AFP]

Friday, 14 March, 2008:
Berbers are the indigenous people of North Africa and live primarily in Morocco, Algeria,
Libya, and Tunisia. Although Berbers once ruled over kingdoms in the region, the Arabs conquered the area beginning in the seventh century. A majority of Moroccans trace their ancestry to Berbers. While many still speak a distinct language known as Tamazight, the Moroccan Constitution does not officially recognize their language. Over the past few decades, many Moroccan Berbers have moved to cities, but those in villages have a largely agricultural lifestyle. Berbers refer to themselves as Amazigh, which means free men. [US News]
Friday, 14 March, 2008:
Al-Qaeda's North Africa branch Thursday called for the release of prisoners in Tunisia and Algeria in exchange for freeing two Austrian tourists it claims to have kidnapped, a US monitoring group said.
"The kidnappers have managed to get into the Sahel, crossing Algeria and Libya to get back to their rear base in Mali," Annahar reported, citing several unnamed Algerian sources. Annahar chief Anis Rahmani told AFP that according to his sources, Algeria's army had "channelled the kidnappers towards Libya and Mali, where the possibility of negotiations with the Austrian authorities for an eventual release of the hostages is greater." [AFP]
Friday, 14 March, 2008:
The leaders of the world's Muslim states on Thursday criticized a rising wave of "Islamophobia" in the West and pledged to combat Islamic extremism, which they said was partly to blame.
Efforts to revamp the OIC's unwieldy 40-article charter also ran into problems after foreign ministers broke off their discussions without agreement on Wednesday, despite having extended their two days of talks by an extra day. But delegates were unanimous in voicing fury at Israeli military strikes against Palestinian territories, and at the negative portrayal of Islam and discrimination against Muslims in the West ... With several prominent leaders not present -- from Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to Libya's Qadhafi and Pakistan's Musharraf -- some delegates had called for a decision on the charter to be postponed until a Cairo summit in three years. [Reuters]
Friday, 14 March, 2008:
The competitions of the 2nd International Libya Hovercraft for the bicycles starts next Saturday. It includes seven sessions (Tripoli - Tripoli, Tripoli - Misurata, Misurata - Sirt, Sirt - Taworgha, Misurata - Beni Walid, Beni Walid - Ghiryan, Ghiryan - Tripoli). The participate teams are from: Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, the UAE, Syria, Turkey, Switzerland, South Africa, the Netherlands and Slovakia. [LJBC]
Friday, 14 March, 2008:
A human right’s association in Andalucía, Spain, has presented a report on illegal immigration, ‘Human rights on the southern border 2007,’ with the horrifying figure that 921 migrants died trying to reach Spain illegally last year. 189 of them lost their lives off the coast of Spain and the remainder off the shores of western Africa and the Maghreb. The report by the Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía says it has been impossible to determine how many people died trying to reach Algeria or Libya across the Sahel, a narrow band of semi-arid land which runs below the Sahara from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. [TS]

Thursday, 13 March, 2008:
A Libyan dissident who fell ill during nearly four years in detention is recovering in a Tripoli medical centre where he can see his family continuously, his son said on Wednesday.
Fathi al-Jahmi, 66, a former provincial governor, was diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension and heart disease in 2005, according to Human Rights Watch. The group said in January he had lost weight, was too weak to speak and required urgent care.
A charity run by the Qadhafi's son, the Qadhafi Foundation, said on Tuesday that Jahmi had been released but was still receiving treatment at a medical centre in Tripoli.
Later Jahmi's younger brother Mohamed, a U.S. resident, said Jahmi remained in detention despite being allowed to receive relatives at the centre. He said Jahmi was forbidden to leave his room or take exercise.
On Wednesday however, a son of Jahmi who lives in Libya distanced himself from his uncle's comments, saying: "We as the family of Fathi al-Jahmi are very happy with the improvement in his health, particularly now that he can see us continuously."
"I am now responsible for responding to his needs -- food, drink and everything," added the son, who is also called Mohamed. [Reuters]
Thursday, 13 March, 2008:
Scientists and physicians meeting in Tripoli last month reported substantial improvement in the treatment of hundreds of Libyan children who had been accidentally infected with HIV in the late 1990s.
Cooperation between the European Union and Libya has also led to a new multidisciplinary, integrated approach towards HIV/AIDS treatment in Libya that could be a model for North Africa and the Middle East, according to a draft report from the meeting, which was organized by the Qadhafi International Charity and Development Foundation, headed by Seif al-Islam al-Qadhafi.
Senior Libyan, US and European health officials were joined at the workshop by scientists, such as Nobel laureate Richard Roberts and HIV researcher Vittorio Colizzi, who had agitated prominently for the liberation of six foreign medical workers jailed in Libya.
The meeting was held to examine ways of preventing future tragedies similar to the infection acquired at the al-Fateh Children's Hospital in Benghazi, and to look generally at improving the treatment of HIV/AIDS. [Nature]
Thursday, 13 March, 2008:
Muftah M. H. Faitouri, Libya's former ambassador to Japan, died of heart attack in Tripoli on Friday, according to the Libyan Embassy in Tokyo. He was 60.
Faitouri was the first Libyan ambassador to Japan after the UN lifted its sanctions against the country in September 2003.
He left the post last December.
Faitouri had devoted his efforts to improving Japan-Libya relations, paving the way for a visit to Japan by Saif al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Qadhafi, in April 2005.
The sanctions were imposed because of the Libyan intelligence agency's involvement in the midair bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Lockerbie in December 1988, which claimed the lives of 259 crew and passengers and 11 people on the ground. [Asahi]
Thursday, 13 March, 2008:
A centre to help migrants return home is opening in Libya's capital, Tripoli.
Migrants will be given equipment to help them set up small businesses back home, while the centre also provides temporary shelter for 40 people.
Libya is a key transit-point for African migrants heading for Europe but people often find themselves stranded there because they run out of money.
"People realise their migration dream cannot come true," Laurence Hart, one of the organisers, told the BBC.
The centre, run by the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and sponsored by the European Union, also trains Libyan immigration officials to encourage voluntary return as opposed to deportation. [BBC]
Thursday, 13 March, 2008:
Soldiers from Comoros have arrived on the renegade Comoran island of Anjouan. They took three members of the Anjouan militia prisoner and are holding them for interrogation.
The Comoran government wants to bring the rebellious island quickly back under control. To do this, it will receive help from African Union troops from Sudan, Libya, Tanzania and Senegal. The troops are standing by to launch an offensive against the island.
Anjouan is one of three islands off the coast of eastern African that form the Comoros. They gained independence from France in 1975. In June 2007, Mohammed Bacar held illegal elections on Anjouan and declared himself president. However, neither the Comoran government nor the African Union have recognised Mr Bacar's government.
[Radio Netherlands]

Wednesday, 12 March, 2008:
Libya has released a prominent dissident whose imprisonment without trial for nearly four years has been decried by the United States, a Libyan government-funded organization said Tuesday.
Fathi al-Jahmi (photo) was released to the care of his family at a hospital in the capital, Tripoli, were he has been treated under guard for the past eight months, according to Saleh Abdul-Salam, the director of the Qadhafi Foundation.
The foundation is named after Libyan leader Qadhafi and run by his son, Seif al Islam.
The release likely reflects stepped-up efforts by Libya to improve relations with the U.S. and respond to a spate of international demands it improve its human rights record.
In 2006, then U.S. State Department acting spokesman Gonzalo R. Gallegos said Washington repeatedly raised al-Jahmi's case at the highest levels and called on the Libyan government to release him.
Human Rights Watch recently said al-Jahmi, 66, was "seriously ill and in urgent need of independent medical care." [IHT]
Wednesday, 12 March, 2008:
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday left open the possibility of a summit with Libya's Qadhafi amid Russian interest in Libya's civil nuclear energy market.
"We have a very active dialogue, and I don't exclude reciprocal visits at the highest level," Putin said during a meeting with parliament leaders at the Kremlin, according to the Interfax news agency.
"The Russian government is working to intensify our undertakings in regards to Libya," Putin added, without specifying if he would visit Tripoli before stepping down as president in May, or whether it would be the new Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, elected earlier this month.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Libya in December, holding talks on joint cooperation in civil nuclear power, transport and housing construction.
He also gave Qadhafi a message from Putin, in which the Russian president expressed his desire to visit Libya and to "reinforce relations between our two countries in all areas."
Russia has made no secret of its interest in Libya's burgeoning civil nuclear power market. [AFP]
Wednesday, 12 March, 2008:
Following the intervention of the Algerian President, seeking to settle the issue of the Algerian prisoners sentenced to capital punishment, and hand cut, the Libyan President, Mr. Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi has issued an order releasing all the Algerian prisoners in Libya, a source close to the Consultative Commission for Human Rights Promotion and Protection, CCPPDH, said.
In this regard, the Presidency has received yesterday a letter by the Libyan President. The letter said that the Libyan president has issued an order releasing the 52 Algerian prisoners in Libya.
The majority of the prisoners in El Djedida prison, Tripoli, will be transported to Algeria, once the administrative and legal procedures completed. [Al-Khabar]

Monday, 10 March, 2008:
Col. Qadhafi has no love for Islamist extremism. On one level he is trying to buy them off to cool off their campaign and to curtail their violent opposition to his government," says says David Hartwell of Jane's Country Risk. "One possible form of the contract [for their release] would be for them to absent themselves from any sort of political activity."
The questions that need to be answered are what motive would Qadhafi have to release prisoners who swore to overthrow his regime, and what does Qadhafi stand to gain by releasing the prisoners?
"There is not much domestic Libyan rationale for the release. There certainly is a way to construe this as an expression of Libyan frustration with the United States. In a sense this release is largely theatrical," suggests Anderson.
"It would be wrong to suggest that it [the prisoner release] is somehow Qadhafi mischief making," Hartwell argues.
A member of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, an opposition party in exile, Muhammad 'Ali 'Abdallah finds this to be "a paradox in itself."
"In the last two years Qadhafi has tried to distance himself from his past. He has tried to build a superficial image of his regime, yet he has been stuck in a lot of oxymoronic behavior. On the one hand he calls them terrorists. On the other hand, he is negotiating with some of their leaders to release them; it is very schizophrenic," Abdallah notes. [Jerusalem Post]
Monday, 10 March, 2008:
Libya has asked Korean investors to reduce their share in the development of oil fields in the country, as part of a campaign in oil-producing countries to protect their natural resources. The demand bodes ill for the new Korean government's “resource diplomacy.”
The Ministry of Knowledge-Based Economy on Sunday said Libya's National Oil Corporation recently demanded that Italy's ENI and a Korean consortium centered on the Korea National Oil Corp. cut their shares in the development of the Elephant field in the middle of the Sahara. The oil field has seen commercial exploitation since 2004, producing 138,000 barrels a day. The consortium comprising KNOC and SK Energy has an 11.67 percent share, dropping to 7 percent if it accepts the Libyan demand. A ministry official said accepting the Libyan demand was inevitable. [Chosun]
Monday, 10 March, 2008:
Iraq's parliamentary speaker has called on Arab nations to better support Iraq ahead of an Arab parliament's conference. Arab countries have been reluctant to show diplomatic support for Baghdad since the U.S.-led occupation.
The speaker of parliament, Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, welcomed representatives of Arab parliaments arriving Sunday in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil.
Delegates of most Arab nations are here to attend an annual meeting of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union Tuesday to discuss areas of mutual concern.
All Arab countries except Libya are taking part in the Irbil conference. Libya decided not to participate in protest to the U.S. military presence in Iraq.
The situations in Iraq, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, the Sudan, and Somalia are expected to be high on the conference agenda. He says the government is going to ask that all Arab countries give assurances they support Iraq's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
[VOA]

Sunday, 9 March, 2008:
The Security Council's emergency meeting in the wake of the killing of eight students in a Jerusalem religious school broke up after an hour, with Israel's Ambassador Dan Gillerman calling Libya a terrorist state that should not even be a member of the UN. Libya's representative Ibrahim Dabbashi returned the invective, saying Libya needs no certificate of good conduct from the "Israeli terrorist regime." He said that "four or five countries" also asked for condemnation of the killing of innocents in Gaza.
Inner City Press (ICP) asked him to name these five countries, or even four or three. He declined. After Russia's Vitaly Churkin, president of the Council, proposed a formula in which the loss of all civilian life in the overall conflict would be condemned, followed by the specific incident in Jerusalem, Libya was the only one to speak in opposition. A diplomat told ICP, "there was only the U.S. putting Libya on the spot to support. And Libya refused."
[ICP]
Sunday, 9 March, 2008:
World governments issued a fresh wave of condemnation Friday of a gun attack in a Jerusalem religious school, after the Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility for the shooting.
The strongest language came from Washington, where there was anger over the scenes of joy in the streets of Gaza, where crowds of Palestinian gunmen fired into the air to celebrate Thursday's murder of eight teenagers.
Human rights group Amnesty International also condemned the school attack as "a gross abuse of international humanitarian law" but urged Israel not to react with more military action in the Palestinian territories.
Attempts Thursday by the UN Security Council to agree a statement on the shootings fell apart amid an angry row between Israel and Libya, which wanted to also condemn Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets.
[AFP]
Sunday, 9 March, 2008:
Rebels in northern Mali have released 22 hostages - the last of a group of about 40 soldiers and government security officers taken prisoner in August raids.
The men were released Friday evening with the help of mediation from Libya, the statement said.
Mali's government thanked Libyan leader Qadhafi "for his brotherly work, which contributed largely to ending this crisis."
Government spokesman Col. Coulibaly said he had no further information on how the soldiers and government security officers were freed or their state of health. Some of the hostages were released in September and then another group in December following an agreement negotiated with help from neighboring Algeria, between the government and rebel Ibrahim Bahanga. His ethnic Tuareg fighters have been waging a guerrilla war in Mali's northern desert. [IHT]

Saturday, 8 March, 2008:
The United States has accused Libya of preventing the UN Security Council from condemning fatal shootings at a Jewish school in Jerusalem as a "terrorist attack".
The US had drafted a statement that was discussed at an emergency UN Security Council session called to debate an attack by a Palestinian gunman who killed at least eight people and wounded at least 10 more at an Israeli religious school.
The US delegation had hoped the 15-nation council would unanimously support the text but Libya, backed by several other council members, prevented its adoption.
"We were not able to come to an agreement because the Libyan delegation with the support of one or two others did not want to condemn this act by itself but wanted to link it to other issues," US ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said after the council meeting. [Reuters]
Saturday, 8 March, 2008:
Britain, continental countries and others critical of Mr Mugabe will be banned from sending monitors to oversee the freedom and fairness of Zimbabwe elections. Sudan and Libya have been chosen “on the basis of objectivity and impartiality in their relationship with Zimbabwe”, the Foreign Minister, said.
“Clearly, those who believe that the only free and fair election is where the Opposition wins, have been excluded since the ruling party is poised to score yet another triumph,” he said.
Among the observer nations are Ethiopia, Nigeria, China, Iran, Venezuela and Kenya, where allegations of vote rigging sparked deadly ethnic violence in December.
Mr Mumbengegwi said that there was “one European nation” invited, and named Russia, where there are concerns over the election of Dmitri Medvedev as president last month. [Times on Line]
Saturday, 8 March, 2008:
In a public address earlier this week Libyan leader Col. Qadhafi weighed in on the US presidential election, offering up his nation as a model of change for America. According to a report posted on the Middle East Media Research website on Friday, Qaddafi said that both the Democratic presidential candidates could look to Libya as a model for the change they keep talking about.
In a lengthy narrative address, Qadhafi stated that he thinks a small minority of people elect officials in the US, that he has heard Americans in general call for change in the nation's electoral process and that the Libyan system provides a model to follow.
"None of the peoples want elections," Qadhafi said, adding there is no ideal ruling system and there are conflicts everywhere. He then followed up by giving his analysis of what happened in the 2000 elections U.S. elections as another supporting point for adopting the Libyan model.
"They are still asking: 'Who won the elections - Al Gore or Bush?' If someone gets 49 percent of the votes, and you get 51 percent, you become president, against the will of 49 percent of the voters. Is that democracy? That is a farce," Qadhafi said. [AHN]
Saturday, 8 March, 2008:
The defence team for the Libyan jailed for the Lockerbie bombing yesterday suffered a set-back in its attempts to get access to a top-secret document.
The document, which originated in an unknown foreign country, is thought to contain vital information about the timer which detonated the bomb that killed 270 people in 1988.
At the previous hearing, the UK Government said the document could not be disclosed for reasons of national security, leading the defence team to accuse it of "interference" in the appeal.
Margaret Scott QC, senior counsel for Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan currently serving 27 years in Greenock prison, objected to the Advocate General for Scotland - the law officer who represents the UK Government in Scottish affairs - playing a part in the debate.
She accused the government of meddling - an allegation hotly disputed by Lord Davidson, the Advocate General, and by Elish Angiolini QC, the Lord Advocate and head of prosecutions in Scotland.
However, yesterday the appeal judges ruled against her. Their decision opens the way for several days of debate about whether letting lawyers see the document would have any security implications.
[The Herald]

Friday, 7 March, 2008:
In December 2007, Libyan strongman Qadhafi toured Europe, triumphant. No longer an international outcast, he received a statesman's welcome. Feted by President Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace, he could ignore slights by Foreign Minister Kouchner. After all, Kouchner may have refused to dine with him, but Qadhafi still walked away with nearly $15 billion in new contracts. Across Europe, Qadhafi's pariah status is a fading memory ...
European policy is cynical ... based more on a desire to promote trade and constrain African migration to the Schengen zone, and less on any human rights or political reform concerns. Qadhafi may be the guest of honor in European capitals, but any change in the Libyan leader or his regime is more illusionary than real. While European officials and their US counterparts recast Libya as an integrated member of the international community, Qadhafi's attitudes toward terrorism and human rights remain unchanged. [Daily Star]
Friday, 7 March, 2008:
The U.S. drafted a statement on Thursday that condemns as a "terrorist attack" an assault on a Jewish school in Israel, which it wants Libya and the other Security Council members to approve.
The draft was being discussed at an emergency U.N. Security Council session, called to debate an attack by a Palestinian gunman who opened fire at a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem. He killed at least eight people and wounded more.
"The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that took place in Jerusalem March 6, 2008 which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of Israeli civilians," said the draft statement, obtained by Reuters.
Israel's enemy Libya is one of the 15 Security Council members. It was elected to the position last year, after the United States dropped its objections, and joined the council in January.
Several Western diplomats said Libya would find it difficult to accept the word "terrorist" in the statement, though it would probably accept another strong word. It was unclear if the Americans would be willing to compromise.
Libya had objected over the weekend to the use of the word "terrorism" in a council statement expressing concern about Israel's incursion into Gaza that killed more than 120 Palestinians. [Reuters]
Friday, 7 March, 2008:
Officials from Libya's Sirte municipality have signed contracts to build an international airport and sea port in the province.
The local government has awarded US construction giant Bechtel a contract to build a commercial port with a projected handling capacity of 8 million tonnes.
A joint venture of unnamed Malaysian companies will build Sirte Int'l Airport. The eventual site will have capacity for 2 million passengers a year. The airport will include passenger and VIP terminals.
Further contracts are expected to be awarded soon to construction groups seeking to build road and other transport links to both the port and airport. [MEED]
Friday, 7 March, 2008:
The Secretary of the Libyan general people's committee, Dr Baghdadi Mahmoudi, on Wednesday presided over two meetings in Tripoli devoted to the review of provisions for the restructuring of electricity, water, gas, health and environment sectors.
Sources said the meeting agreed to draw up for each of these sectors a report comprising appropriate proposals and conceptions for mechanisms that would make it possible to improve the quality of services in conformity with the value of the real costs which should be applied after the distribution of oil revenues to Libyan citizens.
Among those who attended the meetings were the Secretaries of the Libyan people's committees for planning, Dr Abdelhafidh Zlitni and finance, Mohamed Haweij. The first meeting also brought together the Secretary of the Libyan general people's committee for electricity, water, gas, Omran Bou Kraa, and several directors of public companies. [afriquenligne]
Friday, 7 March, 2008:
The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) late Thursday failed to agree on a condemnation of the Jerusalem attack that killed eight people because of Libyan opposition, the U.S. and Israeli ambassadors said.
"Most members (of the UNSC) wanted to condemn (the attack) but Libya blocked it," Israeli's ambassador to the U.N., Dan Gillerman, told reporters.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the U.S. effort to have a statement condemning Jerusalem attack "in the strongest terms" failed because Libya sought to link it to its own resolution pressing for censure of Israel over its deadly land and air assault on the Gaza Strip last week. [AFP]

Thursday, 6 March, 2008:
Verenex Energy Inc. says it invested $18.6 million on capital spending in the fourth quarter, all of it in Libya. Of that, $8.8 million was spent on drilling, $4.2 million for testing and completions and $4.7 million for geological and geophysical costs. Net income was $1.8 million in the fourth quarter, mostly from interest income and currency gains. Revenue from oil and gas production was $165,000. [Oil Week]
Thursday, 6 March, 2008:
Libya wants to amend a draft resolution on Israel's military strikes on Gaza which it hopes the UN Security Council will vote on next week, Russia's UN ambassador said on Wednesday.
"The Libyan delegation informed members of the Council that they're about to update their draft resolution," said envoy Vitaly Churkin.
"We'll have an expert meeting when the experts will once again have a look at the text and exchange views because obviously we are dealing with an extremely serious matter," he said.
Libya, the only Arab country among the 15 members of the Security Council, has drafted the resolution in the name of the Arab states after emergency talks called at the request of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. [Times of India]]
Thursday, 6 March, 2008:
Only the brown sand of the Sahara desert and nothing else for seven days. A challenge against 200m-high dunes along a bumpy itinerary, more difficult than the legendary Paris-Dakar. It is the 'Libya Desert Challenge', the south-western Libyan rally which starts today and will take a week to cover 1,550 km, starting from the desert and ending in the desert. "One of the main differences between the Paris-Dakar and the Libya Desert Challenge is that in the former, the task is to cross the desert for a couple of days; our competition, instead, takes place entirely among the dunes, with extremely difficult obstacles", Hadi Bkai, manager of Fessano Tours, which with a Belgian and a German partners organises the rally, said. [AnsaMed]
Thursday, 6 March, 2008:
The Italian Libyan University has been chosen as an example of one of the 'Eight Millennium Development Goals' set by the UN for 2015 and rector of the University of Palermo, Giuseppe Silvestri, president of the Italian Libyan Foundation, said that the project is to promote cooperation between the two Mediterranean coasts on the themes of education, research, culture and science. The initiative led to the opening, at the Libyan University of Benghazi, of a department of Italian Studies of the University of Palermo, a first step of a project of exchange and cooperation between the two countries and a strategic intercultural point between the Latin and Arab world. The occasion was given by the presentation in Italy, after the preview in Brussels, of the documentary on 'The Eight Millennium Development Goals in the Mediterranean Area', or the eight goals defined by the UN until 2015 to reduce the gap between North and South in the world. [AnsaMed]

Wednesday, 5 March, 2008:
Libya aims to sign a cooperation accord with the European Union in 2008 and forge strong economic links with former foe Washington, the foreign minister of the once-isolated country said.
Abdel-Rahman Shalgam added in remarks to parliament he would travel to Britain next week to sign a prisoner exchange accord with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Months of talks between Britain and Libya on a cooperation accord on judicial affairs including prisoner transfers have stirred suggestions - denied by London - that Britain plans to send home convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel-Basset al-Megrahi.
Former Libyan intelligence agent Megrahi is serving a life sentence in Scotland for the 1988 bombing of an airliner over the town of Lockerbie, which killed 270 people.
Shalgam said visits by leader Qadhafi to Portgual, France and Spain last year had led to a new bid to deepen ties to Europe, which takes most of the OPEC member's oil exports.
"We've begun a comprehensive partnership negotiation with the EU," he said in a speech to parliament Monday. [Reuters]
Wednesday, 5 March, 2008:
Libya's parliament passed a $41 billion budget for 2008 aimed at giving Libyans a direct share in oil wealth after Qadhafi said economic development was too slow, state media reported.
Many Libyans say they are still waiting to benefit from soaring oil revenues and rising foreign investment following Tripoli's 2003 abandonment of prohibited weapons programmes and subsequent return to the mainstream of int'l politics.
Qadhafi told the parliament, also known as the General People's Congress (GPC), on Sunday that the estimated 6 million population should receive oil wealth directly because the government had failed to develop the economy quickly enough.
"The GPC issued a resolution ... regarding the general budget for this year for 49.47 billion dinars during the financial year 2008 to spend this amount on the programme of distributing wealth and the objectives of the general budget," a parliamentary statement carried by state TV and radio said.
[Reuters]
Wednesday, 5 March, 2008:
Libya is changing at a breathtaking speed. Old buildings are being demolished, rubble cleared away in no time, and construction of new towers, hotels, schools, hospitals are going ahead at full throttle. As a result of carefully-planned economic reform and budget expenditure, legal and administrative changes, and government support of the newly-emerging private sector, the country is booming.
A UK trade mission to Tripoli last month was very successful by all accounts and the participants expressed their gratitude to British Embassy staff and Ambassador HE Sir Vincent Fean, Lady Anne and Commercial Counsellor Gareth O’Brien.
Business confidence is at an all time high, and foreign investors from all parts of the world are competing with each other to do business in Libya. With no foreign debt and a healthy capital surplus, the rate of growth was in excess of 7% in 2006 and you can certainly see it taking place in front of your eyes.
In the tourism sector, the Intercontinental and Sheraton hotels are in construction. The Radisson in Tripoli is being renovated and retail shopping centres and brands such as Carrefour are looking to open up in Libya. Libya plans to invest US$ 120 billion in housing, infrastructure, electricity, training and human resources in the next five years. A new airport with a capacity to serve 20 million passengers is planned. A new Olympic Village targeting preparation of the future Olympic athletes from Libya is being designed by a UK firm WS Atkins International. [BI-ME]
Wednesday, 5 March, 2008:
The Libyan General People’s Congress (GPC), the country’s highest legislative authority, has condemned the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, describing it as the "Zionist holocaust". In a statement issued at the end of its annual meeting in Sirte, the GPC said the deadly attacks, which left dozens dead, had confirmed "the arrogance and hegemony of the Zionist terrorist entity and its agents". The GPC also denounced the silence of the int'l community over the worsening situation in Gaza, saying it should move to ensure the lifting of the Israeli blockade of Gaza and end the "genocide and human rights violations" being carried out against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The GPC also asked the Arab and Islamic peoples to maintain their support for the Palestinian people to help them exercise their legitimate rights of resistance and recover their rights, mainly the return of all Palestinian refugees. Israeli’s stepped-up attacks against the Palestinians in Gaza has triggered an international furore, with some groups slamming Israel for a disproportionate use of force. But Israel said the attacks were aimed at stopping the barrage of rocket attacks on its territory. [Panapress]
Wednesday, 5 March, 2008:
Tunisian Football Federation chairman Tahar Sioud and his Libyan counterpart Jamal Jaafari decided during the Arab Football Union general assembly in Jeddah Saturday to postpone the preliminary round of the first African Championship of Nations until April 12th and 19th, TAP reported. The winner will play Egypt.
The African Championship of Nations will be held between the best national teams, exclusively featuring players from the national championships. Expatriate players, even if they play in Africa, cannot be qualified to take part in the competition. Côte d’Ivoire will host the first tournament in 2009.
[Magharebia]

Tuesday, 4 March, 2008:
U.S. based private investment firm Colony Capital LLC's deal to buy a controlling stake in Libya's European refiner Tamoil is off, the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) chairman said on Monday.
"There is no deal," Mohamed Layas, chairman of Libya's state investment arm, told Reuters.
Layas added in brief remarks that the LIA planned to produce a report by the end of March about its management over the past six months of the $50 billion in assets it holds.
Colony said last year it agreed to buy the stake, in a deal that valued the refining and marketing firm at 4 billion euros ($5.9 billion), marking the second major foray by private equity into the European oil refining business in recent years.
Tamoil owns more than 3,000 service stations in Europe, concentrated in Italy, and oil refineries in Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Germany, Colony said last year. [Reuters]
Tuesday, 4 March, 2008:
Libya called for political and material support for Palestine to save the Palestinian people from constant Israeli attacks.
A "firm and urgent" Arab position should be adopted to check what it called ""genocide mechanism"" against the Palestinian population, the Libyan general people’s committee for external relations and international cooperation said in a statement published here.
It called on the int'l community to act fast and stop "Israel’s forces from carrying on with their genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank".
The statement said after several months of embargo and suspension of the supply of fuel oils, which has caused residents of the Gaza Strip to live in total darkness, Israel has stepped up its ""aggression"" against Palestinians, causing dozens of deaths among the civilian population. [Afrik]
Tuesday, 4 March, 2008:
Oil prices, which hit a record high last week, may rise further due to the element of speculation in the market, the head of Libya’s Opec delegation Shokri Ghanem said today.
Oil touched a record peak of $103.05 a barrel last week and officials from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have blamed factors beyond its control, such as speculation and the weak dollar for oil’s record run. “I think that the price could go up,” Ghanem said. “Everything is volatile, we are in the age of volatility and speculation.”
“The physical market is different from the paper market. We are living in kind of virtual oil markets.” He said a deal between Colony Capital LLC to buy a controlling stake in Libya’s European oil refining and marketing firm Tamoil could still go ahead, despite what a Libyan source last week called “substantial obstacles.” [Daily Nation]
Tuesday, 4 March, 2008:
Libyan leader Qadhafi and the Benin President Boni Yayi Sunday reviewed strategies for the forthcoming 10th summit of the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States (CEN-SAD). [PANA]

Monday, 3 March, 2008:
Libyan leader Qadhafi urged a sweeping reform of government on Sunday, saying most of the cabinet system should be dismantled as it had failed to manage the country's windfall oil earnings.
Qadhafi told the General People's Congress (GPC) or parliament that big projects were behind schedule and so ordinary people should themselves devise a new way of sharing out oil revenues.
"All citizens have the right to benefit from the oil funds. They should take the money and do whatever they want with it," he said in a speech in his home town of Sirte.
His call for the dismantling of most cabinet committees, key cogs in Libya's unique Jamahiriyah or "state of the masses" system, is expected to be debated by GPC.
Many of the six million population say they are still waiting to benefit from soaring oil revenues and rising foreign investment following Tripoli's 2003 abandonment of WMD programmes and the return to the mainstream of int'l politics.
[Reuters]
Monday, 3 March, 2008:
The Libyan government has given its state-run investment fund full control of the country's European refining company, Tamoil, Libya's top oil official said on Friday, in a move that may well end US private equity group Colony Capital's plans to buy a big stake in the company.
The Libyan government reached an agreement in June to sell a 65% stake in Tamoil to Los Angeles-based Colony Capital. The private equity group would pay around $3.5 bn for its 65% stake in Tamoil, which has remained in the government's hands since the deal was made public.
The deal was hailed at the time as a clear signal by the North African country to open the country to foreign investment more than two years after the US and UK renewed trade ties with Libya. Those developments followed Qadhafi's promise to dismantle Libyaâ's weapons of mass destruction programme and co-operation with militant groups.
But Libya, an Opec member more confident of its political and economic growth prospects than in years past amid today's record oil prices, has had an apparent change of heart about the Tamoil deal, which was supposed to have been finalised at the end of 2007. [Gulf Times]
Monday, 3 March, 2008:
Egypt's Suez Canal Bank said on Sunday its shareholders approved the sale of its 29.38 percent stake in Suez Canal Company for Technology Settling for 494.93 million Egyptian pounds ($90.3 million).
The bank said the stake would be sold to two Suez Canal Bank shareholders, the Arab Int'l Bank (AIB) and businessman Ahmed Hussein, on a 50-50 basis at 19 pounds per share.
"The AIB will have the right to acquire the stake of the other party in case he doesn't use his buying licence in 10 days," it added.
The AIB, jointly owned by the governments of Egypt and Libya, holds 38% of Suez Canal Bank. Libya's Arab External Bank, owned by Libya's Central Bank owns 24 percent. Other investors and institutions hold 26 percent, while the free-float is around 12 percent.
Suez Canal Bank is a mid-sized commercial bank with a loan market share of 1.7 percent, mainly in the corporate sector. It has a 1.8 percent market share of sector deposits. [Reuters]
Monday, 3 March, 2008:
There are signs of increasing exasperation in Zambian government circles with the conduct of its erstwhile ambassador to Libya, Mbita Chitala and the government would now appear to be preparing the ground for further action in the matter.
Chitala was summarily dismissed on January 31 for writing without clearance an article in a Libyan newspaper calling for the immediate formation of an African continental government and criticising by name some African governments that he accused of proceeding at "a snail's pace" towards the formation of a continental government.
The office of the Vice-President has in the past week taken the extraordinary step of issuing a statement in the form of an advert pointing out the damage that the article has done and also the whole raft of public service regulations governing the conduct of diplomats.
That the statement was issued at that level during the absence on a state visit to Madagascar of President Mwanawasa its general tone and the decision to go that route at all, suggests that the government is keeping its options open. [Sapa]

Sunday, 2 March, 2008:
Libya on Saturday called on Arabs to halt what it called an Israeli military campaign aimed at "wiping out the Palestinian people".
Israel killed 36 Palestinians on Saturday in its deepest incursion into the Gaza Strip since pulling out in 2005, stoking fears of a broader conflict that could derail renewed U.S.-backed peace talks.
At least 71 Palestinians have been killed in four days of Israeli air strikes and raids in the Hamas-controlled territory.
"What Israel is doing in Gaza confirms that the so-called peace process in the Middle East is a deliberate ploy to cover up a continuing campaign to wipe out the Palestinian people," Libya's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"This bloody Israeli campaign had laid bare the reality of the aims of the Zionists and their disdain of the so-called peace initiatives," the statement, carried by the official news agency Jana, added.
Israel says it is responding to cross-border rockets that killed an Israeli man in the border town of Sderot on Wednesday and wounded others in the southern city of Ashkelon. [Reuters]
Sunday, 2 March, 2008:
Non-governmental groups from Libya and Italy have signed an agreement to cooperate on ways to help migrants seeking a better life in Europe, a perennial issue in problem-plagued ties between Africa and the European Union (EU).
Thousands of people cross the Mediterranean from Libya every year, often in overcrowded boats, hoping to reach the shores of the EU in Italy or Malta, and European governments are pressing Tripoli to stem the flow of migrants north from its shores.
The Libyan International Organisation for Peace, Care and Relief (LIOPCR) and the Italian Council for Refugees (CIR) signed a memorandum of understanding in Rome on Friday.
The agreement aims to improve the management of the migrant flow, the organisations said in separate statements.
"The deal was forged within the framework of humanitarian interest in Libya and Italy to stem the flow of illegal migration and resolve the problem of refugees," said LIOPCR.
LIOPCR is chaired by Khaled al Hamaidi, a son of Kouildi al Hamaidi, an adviser to Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi and works in partnership in Libya with the U.N. Refugee Agency, CIR said. [Reuters]

Saturday, 1 March, 2008:
The last week has seen a spate of arrivals on Italy's shores, with over a thousand boat people embarking on the hazardous crossing from Libya. Most of the migrants and asylum seekers landed in Lampedusa, while 41 reached the island of Pantelleria and 35 were rescued off the coast of Sardinia.
Arrivals in Lampedusa from 22-27 February totalled 1,104 people. The largest boat, which carried 368 people, was among a handful which reached Lampedusa unaided, while those on board most of the rubber dinghies and fishing-boats heading to Lampedusa were rescued by the Italian maritime authorities.
The arrivals set a new record for this time of the year, when the number of crossings is generally limited due to harsh weather conditions. Only 148 migrants landed in Lampedusa in Jan. 2007, while 344 people reached the island in Jan. this year. [Reuters]
Saturday, 1 March, 2008:
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade Thursday evening arrived here at the head of a strong delegation of his government on a visit, which duration was not specified.
During the visit, President Wade will hold talks with Leader Qadhafi, the current chairman of the Community of the Sahelian-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) on how to consolidate the African Union (AU) and the CEN-SAD and other African issues.
The Senegalese leader, whose country is a member of the CEN-SAD had last visited Libya 27 January, when he took part, alongside Qadhafi and some other leaders in the continent, at a consultation meeting in Tripoli, to review the agenda of the AU's 10th summit, held from 31 January to 2 February in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. [Panapress]
Saturday, 1 March, 2008:
Heroics at the recently completed Indoor Football (Futsal) interprovincial tournament have earned Western Cape goalkeeper Jermaine Taylor a trophy for the Goalkeeper of the Tournament, and a call up to the national team that will participate in the African Futsal Championships in Libya next month.
Safa’s three-day Futsal tournament was played at the Tshwane University of Technology in Soshanguve.
[Kick Off]
Saturday, 1 March, 2008:
OPEC is unlikely to change its production level at a meeting next week if the oil price stays at about 100 dollars per barrel, acting Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem said today. Ghanem said of Wednesday's OPEC meeting that "I think we won't do anything" if the price of oil remains around current levels. Ghanem, who is the head of the Libyan national oil company (NOC) and is acting as oil minister, said he expected the price to remain at about 100 dollars per barrel. The price of oil has risen strongly to new high points recently and was being quoted at nearly 103 dollars per barrel in New York late on Thursday. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, comprising 13 countries including Libya, is to meet in Vienna on Wednesday to reconsider its production ceiling of 29.67 million barrels per day, excluding output by Iraq. [ANSAmed]
Saturday, 1 March, 2008:
After nine hours deliberation, the panel of jurors found Murad GM Erhuma, 26, from Tripoli guilty by seven votes to two of conspiring to traffic in cannabis and of importing cannabis and guilty by six votes to three of conspiring to traffic in heroin in Dec. 2003.
Erhuma was apprehended on 17 September 2004 at Malta International Airport, after arriving on a flight from Tripoli. The police detained him after another Libyan man, Magdi Ayad Bin Elkayal, who was on the same flight was stopped by customs and was found in possession of 740 grammes of cannabis resin.
When the presiding judge asked Mr Erhuma why he has made 17 trips to Malta in nine months, he replied that he was on business because he supplied pharmacies in Libya. [DI-VE]
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